Fired gay substitute teacher gets community support
CHILLICOTHE — Dozens of community members came to the Huntington Local Schools board meeting Monday night to confront board members about the decision to dismiss Jay Bowman, a gay substitute teacher.
Bowman said he was let go from his position last month for being gay. Huntington Superintendent Pete Ruby said Bowman violated Board policies by speaking to students about political and religious topics, as well as distributing LGBTQIA+ bracelets.
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The monthly meeting was moved to the gymnasium to accommodate the large crowd. Several members of The First Capital Pride Coalition came wearing rainbow attire to show support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Substitute teacher Jay Bowman’s ‘human rights … taken away,’ supporter tells school board
Paula Hutson, a teacher at Huntington, said she came to speak to the board and the community to shed light on the “unfairness” at the school district.
“A substitute teacher was released from teaching because it violated the board policy by getting a student a bracelet that represented the LGBTQIA+ community that advocates for human rights for all,” Hutson said. “Our board of education and administration viewed this as a religious and/ or political gesture in a school setting. I would say that this act has nothing to do with religion or politics. It simply is a situation where someone’s human rights has been taken away.”
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Hutson pointed out that the school policy manual states that staff are expected to protect the mental and physical safety of all students.
“They all just want to be accepted and included by everyone. This doesn’t happen for all students here,” Hutson said. “If you don’t acknowledge every student’s need to belong and help them navigate the struggles, we are not protecting students’ rights of mental and physical safety.”
Several people at the meeting said the board’s policies are being unfairly enforced. Multiple people said that religious and political actions from other teachers, like handing out Bibles and playing religious music during class, have gone unpunished.
Isaiah Lowery, a senior at Huntington High School, said he recently started a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) at Huntington in response to Jay Bowman being let go from the district.
His club has handed out rainbow bracelets and other items to show LGBTQ+ support. He put up posters to advertise his club, which students ripped off the walls. Some were thrown into urinals.
“It was important for me to come here, just to hear what [the Board] had to say about the incident. The statement that they pushed out on Facebook just did not satisfy me,” Lowery said. “The whole sexuality being political and religious thing really got to me… It’s just part of being human. Everyone has a sexuality, whether you want to deny it or not.”
In a Facebook statement last month, the district said that Board policies restrict staff from discussing with students certain subjects, including political, religious and personal beliefs.
Firing gains attention of statewide group
Maria Bruno, Public Policy Director at Equality Ohio, a statewide LGBTQ plus education and advocacy organization, came in support of the school faculty, staff, students and community members.
She said that Equality Ohio has seen similar acts of discrimination at schools across the state.
“This community isn’t alone,” Bruno said. “Recently, our team at Equality Ohio has experienced some alarming and increasing calls from parents, educators, school counselors, who observe stigmatization, harassment and mistreatment of LGBTQ+ students in our schools.”
She explained Title IX legislation, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights legislation stating that no one can be discriminated against on the basis of sex under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
“We strongly encourage this board to seek legal counsel and advise with obligation to protect the students, staff and community members against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity,” Bruno said. “Equality Ohio is eager to be a supportive partner in helping with educational efforts or training should the resource be helpful to the school district.”
Daniel Mathuews, First Capital Pride President, said Bowman was “clearly fired for his sexual orientation and offering support to LGBTQ students.”
Mathuews asked the Board to publicly apologize to Bowman and to offer him a position at the school.
“The reality is, LGBTQ kids are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual counterparts. This is directly linked to the lack of support for LGBTQ youth in schools and community,” Mathuews said. “As founder of First Capital Pride Coalition… the behavior from this township is precisely why we exist.”
The school board did not directly address the situation during the meeting. Jay Bowman could not be reached for comment.
Megan Becker is a reporter for the Chillicothe Gazette. Call her at 740-349-1106, email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @BeckerReporting.
Read More: Fired gay substitute teacher gets community support